Nashville treasure Chris Stapleton made a big media splash last week announcing a May 5th release date for his debut album, Traveller. The announcement arrives shortly after his name was jolted into the social media spotlight in mid-December, when Justin Timberlake publicly proclaimed his admiration for Stapleton to his 40+ million Twitter followers.
Even though his name isn’t yet mainstream, he has already earned commercial success with his songwriting. Stapleton has four number one songs to his name, including Kenny Chesney’s “Never Wanted Nothing More,” and Darius Rucker’s “Come back Song.” Beyond those hits, odds are good you’ve benefitted from Stapleton’s superb songwriting talents in one form or another, as he is credited with over 150 album cuts. Adele even included a cover one of his songs, “If It Hadn’t Been For Love” on her album 21. The Spotify playlist here features a small sampling of his songwriting genius.
Given Stapleton’s past track record of success in crafting poignant songs, his May 5th release of Traveller cannot arrive quickly enough. The album will surely please country traditionalists, as Stapleton worked alongside Dave Cobb, who recently produced Sturgill Simpson’s exceptionally authentic-sounding album Metamodern Sounds in Country Music. The songs on Traveller reportedly capture a rather serious and somber emotion, as Stapleton was profoundly influenced by his father’s recent death while crafting the album. As we draw closer to May 5th, heed Justin Timberlake’s advice (has JT ever steered you wrong?!) and keep an eye out for Chris Stapleton.
Keep in touch with Chris Stapleton on Twitter, Facebook, and his website.
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